Lovesick
by Predec2
Summary: Gus comes to visit the boys for spring break; havoc ensues. *NOW COMPLETE*
1. Hankie Pankie Anyone?

DISCLAIMER: QAF and its characters are the sole property of Showtime and Cowlip Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, all respective cookie names are the property of the Girl Scouts of America (except for the one I made up - ha!). Again, no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

"Shit!" I growled out in exasperation as the doorbell rang; who ever came to our door out here in the middle of nowhere, anyway? Well, that is except for the occasional delivery men either dropping off art supplies for Justin or a special courier arriving to pick up one of his works, which were lately beginning to sell for obscenely high amounts of money. Considering my partner was only 25 years old, it was amazing how quickly his reputation had spread among art aficionados and how much money his works were presently commanding, especially considering he had only spent two years in New York before deciding to return back home to move in with me at Britin.

After Justin had left, I had initially thought there was no way I would ever decide to keep this monstrous house, but as I found myself taking long drives on the weekend out here to think and de-stress, over time I had grown to love the peace and tranquility the grounds provided, as well as the memories that it evoked; short-lived ones, yes, but happy ones of Justin and me, as well as dreams of what could be at some time in the future, and I had ultimately decided that I didn't want to part with our home.

Not to mention that my son absolutely adored Britin; I had acquired six horses to fill the stables out back approximately six months ago, including a pony just perfect for him to ride, and between that and the pool Gus enjoyed himself immensely every time he came to visit Justin and me. To my relief and delight, Mel and Lindsay had decided to move back to the Pittsburgh area about a year ago, right about the same time the same-sex laws had been relaxed sufficiently enough to ensure that the fears they had once expressed about being deprived of so many of their freedoms had been effectively squelched. Missing their family, friends, and hometown, they had decided to come back home to raise Gus. Now, I was able to see my son on a more frequent basis, and I relished in being able to spend time with him at least two weekends a month. Between that, and Justin being back home where he belonged in my life and in my arms, along with Kinnetik chugging along like a well-oiled machine, I had to say that I was pretty much on top of the world.

In fact, I was expecting my son in about a week; his spring break from 2nd grade began then, and he would be spending the entire time here with Justin and me. I was determined, therefore, to get as much of my work done at home in my office in the next several days before he arrived so I wouldn't be preoccupied with business matters while he was here. I was going to concentrate on my son instead, and not the next, greatest advertising campaign.

So when the doorbell rang, interrupting my best-laid plans, I groaned. "Justin, can you get that?" I called out. Silence. The doorbell sounded again with that stuffy, 'Buckingham Palace' chime that I abhorred as I repeated my request a little louder this time. "Justin, get the door, okay?" Justin had just been in the kitchen working on something to fix for lunch. Where had he gone? "JUSTIN!"

I sighed heavily when the doorbell sounded a third time. Was he deaf? "Aaargh!" Throwing my pencil down onto my desk in resignation, I pushed back from the leather chair and stomped over to the hallway, trudging toward the door and frowning when I looked through the frosted, pane glass and seeing no one there. _What the fuck?_ I wondered as I reached for the door handle, wondering if the UPS man had left another package on our doorstep and scurried back to his van like they tended to do. As I opened the door, however, I glanced down to see a petite, curly-haired towhead with fiery red hair and bright, blue eyes staring up at me. In her hands she grasped a familiar cardboard box as she squinted at me curiously. "Buy some cookies, Mr. Kinney?"

I looked around, expecting a car of some type to be idling in the driveway, waiting until this wisp of a girl finished her spiel, but there was none. "Where the fu, uh, where did YOU come from?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, when my mommy and daddy wanted to make a baby, they went up into the bedroom and..."

_Cheeky little shit_, I couldn't help thinking, remembering a time when I had used the same type of witticism on someone else - and garnered the same type of reaction. "Well, wherever you came from, I don't eat car...," I paused as what she said sank in. "Hey, wait a minute; how do you know who I am?"

"Duh; I live next door," she told me as she shook her head with that _'boy, is he old and senile_' look.

I arched one eyebrow as I frowned. "You do? Where?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but instead smiled brightly. "Hi, Mr. Taylor," she gushed out with a giggly sort of breath as Justin appeared quietly at my side seemingly out of nowhere. Justin had to be the sneakiest person when it came to walking around the wooden floors of our home; I normally managed to hit every squeaky spot there was, but he somehow succeeded in typically missing every one, resulting in him scaring the shit out of me on several occasions by appearing at my side without so much as a breath giving him away. He seemed to take inordinate pleasure in testing the strength of my heart on a regular basis - in more ways than one.

"Hi, Rachel!" he replied with one of his trademark smiles. "What have we here?"

I watched as Justin worked his charm and the girl blushed deep red to match her root hair color in reaction to his smile, much akin to a tween throwing herself at an idol at a rock concert. Well, to be honest he sort of had that same reaction on me, too; only it normally made me horny and want to fuck him to within an inch of his life instead.

She shyly held out her bundle of outrageously high-carb treats to my partner, whose face lit up like he had suddenly been gifted with either a jumbo variety of our favorite sex toys or else an assortment of high-quality art brushes; I wasn't sure which. But the beaming smile on his face told me all I needed to know; next to sex with me and his art, this was Justin's most favorite indulgence.

His eyes sparkled as he reached into the box and retrieved an orange-colored box. "Yes!" he practically crowed. "Do-Si-Dos©!" Before I could say 'promenade and allemande left,' Justin had shoved the box into my hands before snatching two green boxes this time. "Oooh, Thin Mints©! I love these after they're frozen! And, oh, yeah! Tag-A-Longs©! Awesome!"

Rachel glowed as Justin continued to shove boxes and boxes of cookies into my hands; I stood there with a combination of battle fatigue and shell-shock as he asked our neighbor, "Any new ones this year?"

Rachel grinned with a nod. "Yeah - and they're my favorites, too; they're kind of a cross between an Oreo© cookie and a Nestles Crunch Bar ." She reached inside to show my partner a black, white, and red box emblazoned with the new cookie's name, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I was in trouble. I snorted. "Oh, that's perfect. We'll take four boxes of the Hankie Pankies©; that's right up Justin's alley."

Rachel's eyes grew large at the increasingly growing order, images of accolades from her fellow scouts and the scout leader dancing in her head as Justin turned to glare at me and I merely smiled back in response. "Better make it six boxes," Justin said evilly as he turned to face our red-haired neighbor. "It might be the only _hankie pankie_ that he gets - until the next time they're for sale. On second thought, though, just give us whatever's in the rest of your box, okay?" Rachel nodded excitedly as she handed over the entire medium-sized box to Justin.

My mouth fell open in disgust as Justin turned to smile over at me smugly. "I'll take those," he told me as he promptly snatched the Thin Mints©, Do-Si-Dos©, and Tag-A-Longs© out of my grasp and threw them back into the box, leaving me with the others. "Pay the girl," he ordered like a royal decree with a twinkle in his eye as he peered back over at our neighbor. "Nice to see you again, Rachel. Come over sometime and you can ride one of the horses with us."

She dreamily beamed at my partner like he was some sort of demi-god. "Really? I love horses!"

Justin smiled affectionately at her. "Great! Well, have your mom or dad give me a call, and we'll set something up, then. Need me to give you a lift home?" he asked. Obviously Justin was a lot more familiar with this girl than I was. Just what did he do during the day when I wasn't home? Paint, or operate a combination babysitting service/horseback riding camp on the side?

"No, that's okay," she told him as I peeled off a couple of twenties and gave it to her. "I'll just go back through the hole in the fence," she explained as Justin nodded like it was perfectly normal. She reached inside her uniform pocket to fish around for some change to give me, but I held up my hand, still trying to get around the fact that we apparently had a hole somewhere in our fence that allowed this thief to come and go as she pleased. I wondered if it was big enough for a horse to escape through, also; I would have to check that out.

"Keep it," I told her as her eyes grew large at the thought. "I normally have to pay a lot more to get some hankie pankie."

She frowned at me in confusion as Justin guffawed over my comment before shrugging her shoulders, apparently deciding I was simply mentally unbalanced somehow and couldn't be expected to form many coherent thoughts. "Well, thanks again," she chirped brightly as she turned and began to skip away, her hands now free of her previous burden.

"Bye! Don't forget about what I said!" Justin told her with a wave as she nodded and hurried over toward the far side of the property; soon she had turned around the corner of the house and was out of sight.

I sighed as I shut the door, wondering what had just happened. As I looked down at the boxes of cookies in my hands, however, I realized _exactly _what had happened: Justin Taylor, thief of my heart, had struck again.

Turning to walk down the hall toward the kitchen a few seconds later, I wasn't surprised to see Justin with the refrigerator door open. Sure enough, I saw the gallon of 2% milk clutched in his hand as he carried it over to the counter and retrieved a tall, large glass from the cabinet next to the sink. Before you could say "Big, Fig Newton©," Justin had opened one of the boxes of Tag-A-Longs© and was dunking the cookie in and out of the glass in a rhythmically-smooth motion. He noticed me observing him as a gleam grew in his eye and he smiled. I watched him as he slowly brought the chocolate-covered cookie up to his lips and took a bite, uttering an "Mmmm" in a sexy, guttural tone of voice and closing his eyes briefly in bliss as the cookie bites slid down his throat and he swallowed. He licked the corner of his mouth then to retrieve an errant crumb and uttered one more "Mmmm," probably just for effect. And I had to admit that it worked wonders on me. The whole thing sounded remarkably like Justin normally reacted when he was about to come from ecstasy while my cock was thrusting in and out of his ass or he was sucking on it, and it instantly made my dick twitch in avid attention.

He had the gall to smirk at me then as I huffed in protest over being read so well. I walked into the kitchen and dropped the Hankie Pankies© down onto the granite kitchen island with a thud. "There...All the Hankie Pankie© you will need, Sunshine." I narrowed the gap between us as I walked over and stood next to him with that shit-eating grin on his face and that milk-soaked, half-cookie still clutched in his hand. I leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Hope it's as satisfying as the other kind." Just for good measure, I took a little nibble on his ear, my hot breath washing over his face before I gave his smooth, creamy-colored neck a swipe with my tongue, noticing him shiver a little in reaction, before I turned to go. "Now if you and your Hankie Pankies© will excuse me, I have a lot of work to do before Sonny Boy gets here."

* * *

_Chapter End Notes:_

Thank you to my beta, Gloria, for being my "eagle eye." I appreciate that more than you know, my friend.:)


	2. Hop On Over To My Place

_Gus arrives with his moms - and with an unexpected guest, much to Brian's consternation. _

* * *

_One Week Later..._

The rest of the week blissfully went by fairly uninterrupted and I managed to accomplish much of what I needed to do in order to concentrate on my son; the day he arrived I just had enough time to straighten up my desk before the doorbell sounded, signaling his arrival.

Even if I hadn't heard that obnoxious chime sounding, I would have immediately known Gus was here by the high-pitched squeal that erupted from his lips upon seeing Justin. I had to smile at his typical reaction to seeing my partner; it was obvious that he loved Justin just as deeply as I did, a fact that made me both grateful as well as proud. Smiling in anticipation, I scooted back from my leather office chair and turned to exit out of the study toward the front door, just in time to have a brown-haired blur launch himself into my arms; he nearly made me fall onto my ass from the force, but I managed to brace myself just in time to pick him up and hug him to my chest as his little arms wound themselves around my neck and he gazed delightedly into my face.

"Daddy!" Gus shrieked, his face aglow as he tried to catch his breath. I laughed. "Daddy, you'll never guess!"

I smiled at him in amusement, as always overcome by his enthusiasm, innocence, and zest for life; I paused for just a second to internally wish that he could always be this way before I asked, "What is it, Sonny Boy? Did you bring the Easter Bunny with you?"

He giggled at me then as, to my surprise, he nodded. "Kind of..."

I frowned as my eyes met Justin's over by the door. He was holding it open, presumably so Mel and Lindsay could retrieve Gus's things and bring them in for his visit. "What do you mean, Gus?" I asked him just before I saw Lindsay walk in.

"Momma's bringing him in," Gus explained.

I narrowed my brows, perplexed. "Him?" _What the fuck_? Now this I had to see...surely Mel didn't find someone to dress up as the Easter Bunny? Besides, Mel didn't have a sense of humor, so that would have been beyond her scope of comprehension to do something like that anyway.

My eyes met Lindsay's as she came through the door carrying Gus's backpack and I asked, "Gus tells me you brought the Easter bunny with you."

"No, Daddy," Gus corrected me. "I said _kind of_."

I thought I detected a bit of discomfort (or guilt?) on Lindsay's face as she opened her mouth to explain, only to be interrupted as Mel walked inside, carrying a medium-sized, metal cage and...

"Oh, no," I said in disbelief as I gently lowered my son to the ground. "No fu... no way," I told them with deadly calm, my mouth agape. "That _thing _is NOT staying here!Are you out of your mind? When in the hell did he get that?" I abruptly erupted with a sneeze just then; instantly deciding our 'guest' was definitely to blame. I had never been around rabbits before, unless you counted my angora sweater. Was I allergic to the fucking thing, too?

"Brian, let me explain," Lindsay reasoned with her typical, soft-spoken voice as Mel rolled her eyes at me in a clear lack of sympathy. "It's not really Gus's; it's on loan. It belongs to his class, and they each take turns keeping it for a weekend. It just happens to be Gus's turn this week, and he couldn't bear to leave him at home."

I watched Justin bend sideways to peer into the cage at the solid white rabbit and smile as I reminded her, "This is NOT just for a weekend, Lindsay; Gus is off from school until a week from Monday."

"I know..."

My mouth fell open even wider as the implications set in. "Oh, no!" I told her even more vehemently than before as I thought I distinctly heard Justin make some sort of clucking sound with his tongue like he was cooing over some baby. "There is NO way that thing is living in this house until then!"

Justin had the gall to laugh at my statement then as I glared over at him. "Brian, it's just a rabbit, not the Abominable Snowman," he pointed out helpfully as Gus scrunched up his face in confusion over the reference. Apparently my son wasn't a big fan of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. "And he'll be in his cage - at least most of the time."

I stared over at him, knowing now why Benedict Arnold was such a hated figure. "_Most_ of the time?"

Justin shrugged as Gus's head volleyed back and forth to silently listen in on our conversation like a ball boy at the U.S Open. "Well, I'm sure his cage will need to be cleaned, so he'll have to spend some time outside of it."

I opened my mouth to continue my protest, only to quickly shut it as I saw my son's lower lip quivering.

"Shit," I couldn't help muttering under my breath in frustration, knowing this was going to be one battle I was NOT going to win.

"Man up, Brian," Mel shot back at me as she placed the cage down on the narrow, hallway entry table. "The widdle old bunny won't hurt you, Big, Bad Man."

I wanted desperately to tell Motor Mouth to just shut the fuck up, and would have if my son wasn't peering up at me, teary eyed and desperate. Why? Why me? I let out an exasperated breath as Mel had the nerve to smile back at me smugly. "All right, all right," I said in surrender as I held up my hands. "But he stays in his cage and comes out ONLY if Justin needs to clean the cage out. And then he stays in the guest bathroom - in the bathtub."

"Yay!" Gus cried out in glee as he clapped his hands, apparently satisfied with that arrangement. He scurried over to the cage and cried out, "Did you hear that, Snowball? You get to room with me!" The bunny's nose twitched as if he were actually listening to Gus as my son peered into the cage with a beaming smile on his face.

"Only when _I_ clean it out?" Justin stated as he placed his hands on his hips; naturally, the little twat hadn't missed a word of what I had said.

I shrugged. "To the volunteers go the spoils, Sunshine. Don't forget; if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten all that hankie pankie earlier, either."

"Oh, please," Mel grumbled. "TMI. Let's go, Lindsay, before he changes his mind." She smiled over at Gus. "Give us a kiss, Gus. We have to go." Gus obediently walked over as the two women took turns crouching down to accept a kiss on the cheek from him.

"Thanks, Brian," Lindsay called over to me as she turned to follow Mel out the door soon afterward. "We'll be back to pick him up next Sunday."

"Pick BOTH of them up, you mean."

She nodded with a smile as she disappeared out the door.

"Well," I stated as two sets of eyes peered over at me expectantly. "I'm getting hungry, Sunshine. How about some Rabbit Fricassee?"

"Brian! Not funny," Justin admonished me as I rolled my lips inward and smirked.

"Guess we're fresh out," I stated sadly to my son as I held my hands out to my sides. Gus evidently had no idea what I was talking about - fortunately. "Okay, Sonny Boy, go take Thumper upstairs and we'll dig up some chicken fingers instead."

"It's Snowball, Daddy."

"Yeah, Snowball. She must be tired after her adventure; go take her upstairs to your room - and make sure you put a towel under her cage before you put it down on top of the dresser, okay?"

"He."

"Ohhh," I corrected myself. "How could I have missed that with all that fur?" I replied sarcastically. "Well, go take HIM upstairs and then come down for dinner, okay?"

Gus nodded as he walked over to grasp the cage carefully on either side with his hands. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, Sonny Boy?"

"Do we have any carrots?"

Justin and I exchanged a look of amusement as I nodded. "I think so. Why don't you go take a look?"

"Okay!" he agreed happily as he let go of the cage and rushed down the hallway helter skelter toward the kitchen. A few seconds later, I could hear the refrigerator being opened.

Justin walked up to me with a sort of patronizing look on his face as I rolled my eyes. "It'll be okay, Dad," he murmured as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and stood on his tiptoes to nestle his chin in the crook of my shoulder. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear saucily, "If you behave the rest of the evening, I'll make sure you get plenty of 'hankie pankie' later tonight, too."

I placed my hands over his as I turned my head to meet his lips for a more in-depth kiss, just as Gus started back down the hallway with a baggie of baby carrots in his hand. "You'd better, Sunshine," I warned him as he grinned before letting go of me.

"Not too many, Gus," I warned my son as he walked up to me and I noticed how many carrots he was holding in his bag. "Just one for now, okay? Sure you can carry that upstairs?" The cage looked quite unwieldy to me, especially for a child.

"Daddy," he whined as his lower lip jutted out defensively. "I'm not a little kid."

Justin chuckled softly as I held up my hands in supplication and curled my lips under. "No, of course not; my bad. Go right ahead, Sonny Boy," I told him. "You can carry it upstairs. But I'm going to be right behind you just in case you should need any help...Deal?" I realized how important it was for my son to feel responsible, but at the same time I didn't want him breaking his neck, either, so I saw this as a good compromise. To my relief, Gus nodded in agreement before, carefully grasping both sides of the cage and murmuring words of reassurance to our 'guest,' he slowly began to ascend up the steps. I watched closely from a few steps behind him until he had managed to successfully navigate his way upstairs before letting out a relieved breath and returning to join Justin in the downstairs foyer.

"I think I need a drink," I decided as I brushed my hand through my hair, feeling the pangs of a headache coming on. "Join me?"

"Well, I need to get dinner ready..."

"Come on, Justin," I said softly, knowing for the next several days our private time was going to be seriously impacted; not that I necessarily minded when it came to my son. That didn't mean that I still wouldn't feel the loss profoundly, though, but at least Justin was back home where he belonged, and I no longer had to merely dream of him waking up in my arms each morning. In fact, it was one of my secret pleasures that I indulged in each morning, and a source of great satisfaction to me. I never slept as well when Justin was apart from me as I did when I woke up holding him in our bed, and I vowed that our extensive time apart from each other would never happen again, at least not on a permanent basis.

Justin clasped the hand that I extended to him as he nodded. "Okay, but just one; Gus should be down soon and I need to put a casserole in the oven."

Not needing any further encouragement, I gently pulled him down the hallway toward the study, not giving him any time to react before I slammed him against the wall next to the doorway in the room and gave him a thorough tongue washing for several seconds before he pushed me away with a laugh.

"Brian," he sputtered out, his lips thoroughly ravaged now and oh-so-kissable looking. I grinned at him as he asked, "What was _that_ for?"

"You're complaining?"

He chuckled. "You know me better than that." I walked the few steps over to the makeshift bar and poured a couple of squat glasses of Beam to hand one to him. Raising mine as if in salute before I downed my drink in one swoop, I explained, "All that talk about Hankie Pankie earlier was making me horny."

Justin eyed me with that innocent look that I knew meant just the opposite. "Oh? Now _that's _a big surprise." He grinned over at me as he reached over and squeezed my twitching cock through the denim of my jeans. "Well, no time for any other 'hankie pankie' right now; I have a growing boy to feed and a couple dozen eggs to boil."

I grunted at the sensation of my partner's talented fingers kneading my hardened shaft. "_Two_ growing boys," I corrected him before I thought better of it as he gave my cock one more firm squeeze and I groaned in frustration. "No, make that _three_." He grinned at me again evilly as I sighed, placing the glass back down onto the oval, glass serving tray as Justin belted back his own drink and plopped it down onto the tray beside mine.

"What time does Gus normally go to bed again?" I asked, hoping it was sometime right after dinner; say, about 6ish.

Justin curled his hand around the back of my neck to pull my head down for a brief sympathy kiss. "Probably not early enough for your taste," he surmised correctly, even though he knew how much I loved my son and looked forward to being with him. "We'll just have to make up for it in quality and not quantity while he's here."

I frowned. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that. That sounds almost like the sex schedule of a _normal_ couple." I leered at him as I reached down to squeeze his cock this time; I could hear Justin's sharp intake of breath as I told him, "Your head up there may be telling you that, but I think it forgot to tell your head down there."

"Brian!" my partner chided me as scurrying footsteps could be heard coming down the steps. To my disappointment, he backed away from my reach just as Gus called out my name. "No more 'hankie pankie' for you until bedtime," he reminded me.

I refused to acknowledge the fact that I was pouting just like my son did when he was deprived of his favorite toy as I sulked in frustration. Justin grinned at me knowingly and, with a quick, almost chaste peck on my cheek, hurried out of the room. I could hear him telling Gus that they would dye the eggs together tomorrow morning in time for Easter egg hunting this Sunday.

"Brian! Come and help me with dinner!" I heard a few seconds later.

Rolling my eyes, I nevertheless picked up the remaining bottle of Beam, took a swig, and joined my partner and son in the kitchen.


	3. A Little Post-Dinner Exercise

_Two Hours Later_

"I'm not sure why we had that new dishwasher installed," I commented dryly as I watched my son devour the last of his spaghetti and meatballs; his plate looked so clean it almost appeared to have not even been used. "Good?" I asked my son as he nodded enthusiastically, using the tip of his tongue to swipe a little bit of errant sauce from the corner of his mouth as I grinned over his ingenuity.

I had decided to partly forgo my normal 'no carbs after 7' rule for tonight, since Justin had served up my son's favorite meal and he had used whole-wheat spaghetti. I had to admit, too, that Justin's homemade meatballs and sauce were quite tasty. Justin had always loved to cook, but since he had returned he had embraced his epicurean passion even more avidly and had become quite a good cook in the process. And the fact that he consistently strived to focus on healthier entrees made me appreciate his efforts even more. Tonight, then, I decided I was just going to enjoy being with my son and forget about the extra time I would need to devote to my exercising afterward down in our basement gym. Besides, I could think of some 'other' exercises that might work off the extra calories and be even more pleasurable.

I shook my head in amusement as Justin slurped up his last strand of spaghetti into his mouth like a little kid as Gus giggled over his antics. Taking a last sip of my wine, I turned to my son to ask, "Ready to go get cleaned up and ready for bed?"

"Do I have to?" was the predictable lament.

I grinned over at Justin as I nodded, not missing the couple of yawns that had escaped my son's mouth during dinner. "Yes, Sonny Boy, you have to. Justin and I promised your moms that we would get you into bed by 9:30. Why don't you run upstairs and pick out your pajamas to wear and I'll meet you in the bathroom in a few minutes, okay?" I suggested. "I might have some new bath toys for you."

Gus's eyes lit up in delight; from the moment he was a baby, he had always loved to play with toys while he splashed around in the tub amidst a sea of bubbles, not unlike someone else I knew - at least minus the toys, anyway. Until Justin and I had moved out here together I had had no idea just how much of a bathing beauty freak my partner was, but he enjoyed a good bubble bath like the rest of them. I refused to imbibe in such lesbionic nonsense, however; telling my partner that the only 'tub' I would ever dip my toes into - or any other part of my body, for that matter - was in our backyard hot tub. I had installed one soon after buying the house, and Justin was an eager and willing participant with me. The vision of that pliant, soft, and oh-so-sexy body in my grasp while Justin threw his head back in pleasure in the warm, churning water was making me hard just thinking about it as I had to force myself back to the present.

"Yay!" Gus said excitedly as he abruptly pushed back from the table and I refocused my attention on my son.

"Uh, uh, uh," I told him with a patient smile before he had a chance to escape. "Dirty plates and glass in the dishwasher, please."

He nodded while he carefully balanced the plate and silverware in one hand and his glass in the other as he walked back to the kitchen. As soon as Justin and I heard the telltale banging of the dishes as they were placed in the dishwasher, we saw Gus take off like a shot past the dining room on his way to the stairs.

Several seconds later, however, instead of hearing my son's cry of delight over his new bounty I heard his voice filled with fear, and my blood instantly ran cold.

"Daddy!" he shrieked at the top of his lungs, his voice full of panic. "Come quick!"

I exchanged a worried look with Justin moments before we both pushed back from the table of one accord and rushed toward the steps.

"Gus!" I shouted frantically as I took the steps two at a time with my longer stride. "What is it? What's going on?"

"Hurry, Daddy!" was the urgent response as Justin struggled to keep up with my pace. I could tell from my son's voice that he was still in his bedroom as I landed at the top of the steps and took a sharp right toward his room at a full run. "Gus?"

"Hurry!" he repeated urgently as I reached his room in record time. I was relieved to see Gus appeared to be okay as I observed him on his stomach, peering under his racecar bed.

I frowned as Justin rushed up to stand beside me. "Gus, what's going on? You had me scared to death!"

"Daddy!" he cried out, his face full of anxiety. "He's gone!"

"Who's gone?"

"Snowball! He's gone, Daddy!"

My eyes flashed over to the now-empty cage lying on top of my son's dresser and I huffed out an irritated breath; I didn't know whether to be more relieved that my son was okay or furious over the rabbit getting loose. "Shit," I muttered under my breath. "How did he get out of his cage?" I asked my son a little louder, my voice hard-edged and angry. I knew that damn animal was going to be a problem from the moment I saw him.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" Gus cried out in anguish as he stood up to face me. "I opened the cage when I brought him up to pet him and I must have forgotten to lock it back!" he confessed.

I sighed heavily. "Gus, how could you have been so careless?" I asked him sharply in rebuke as his eyes clouded over with tears in reaction to the sound of my voice.

Just then I felt Justin grasp my forearm, probably as a silent entreaty for me to think about what I was doing. I WAS pissed - yes. But as I looked into my son's worried eyes, my own childhood suddenly flashed into my mind - times when I had done something unintentional or negligent to disappoint my own father and he had responded by slapping me in the face with the back of his hand, throwing me into a dark closet for several hours, or pushing me out of the house in the dead of winter with just my pajamas and slippers on - if I was lucky enough to even be wearing shoes. I shuddered at the thought as I took a deep breath to calm myself and nodded over at my partner in gratitude as Justin nodded slightly back at me in acknowledgment.

Walking over to my son, I swept his small body into my embrace as I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. I felt him trembling and heard him sniffle, making me feel guilty as hell, as I leaned back to look into his eyes. I gently wiped his tear-stained cheeks as I reassured him softly, "It's okay, Sonny Boy. Mistakes happen. We'll find him - he couldn't have gotten far." At least I hoped so; I had no idea how fast rabbits could travel, but something told me I was about to find out.

He nodded with a hiccup, his face relaxing in relief as I let him go and peered around the room. At least the rabbit was white - that would help - but it was quickly getting dark, and the longer it took to find him without the added bonus of sunshine, I suspected the harder it would become.

"All right, we need a game plan; let's start in your room and the bathroom over there," I told him. "You go look in the closet and Justin and I will look in here, okay?"

He nodded, eager to help, as he hurried over to his large walk-in closet, leaving Justin and me alone. I briefly turned to face him as I replied softly, "Thanks."

Justin nodded back at me again, knowing exactly what I was grateful for, before he squeezed my arm briefly and let it go.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I discovered that finding a rabbit in a house the size of Britin was somewhat akin to finding a hot prospect at the next Gay and Lesbian Center fundraiser; in other words, damn near impossible. Despite our looking in seemingly every nook and cranny on the second floor, he was nowhere to be found. I pressed my lips tightly together in frustration as my partner and my son walked up to me in the hallway while I gazed at the open staircase that led both up and downstairs, wondering just how fleet a foot rabbits were when it came to navigating hardwood steps. There was a runner positioned down the middle of the steps to provide traction, however, and I had seen rabbits literally jumping straight up in the air outside when they were playing with each other, so I knew they could be quite agile. I suppose it could be possible, then. If he HAD managed to move to another floor, obviously that would make our 'mission' even more difficult.

As if reading my mind, Justin asked me, "You don't suppose he's on another floor?"

"He's fast, Daddy," Gus supplied helpfully. "Whenever we let him out of his cage at school, he's gone like a flash."

"Thanks for the tip, Sonny Boy," I responded dryly as I exchanged an amused look with my partner. I brushed my left hand through my hair and sighed. "Well, looks like we'd better start searching the rest of the house, then, because I don't see any way that he could still be on this floor."

I had just started to tell Justin to take Gus and begin searching the downstairs while I covered the third floor when my son shouted out excitedly, "Look, Daddy! There he goes!" I followed to where he was pointing down on the main floor, just in time to see a flash of white take a tentative hop toward the study.

"Let's go!" I called out as I took off like a shot down the steps; my feet slid on the hardwood floor as I reached the landing a few seconds later and, grabbing onto the curved, rounded banister knob for support, I made a sharp right turn and hurried down the hall toward the escapee's last-known location, Justin and Gus's footsteps sounding right behind me.

"We got him!" I crowed in triumph as I reached the study and stopped short to quickly look around the room in the subdued lighting; I suppose I expected to see Snowball sitting there on all fours, licking one of his paws like a lazy cat, but I was disappointed. In fact, he was nowhere to be found. "What the hell?" I couldn't help muttering in disbelief as I stood there with my hands on my hips. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the rabbit was part of a magic act and had disappeared right down the magician's top hat. "I just _saw_ him! Where did he go?"

Justin and my son looked as dumbfounded as I was as we all spread out and started searching the room; I made sure to close the door immediately so the varmint couldn't escape the room, but I continued to be perplexed as to where he could have gone.

I was stretched out on the floor on my belly a couple minutes later, looking under the leather sofa when I heard my son whisper urgently, "Psst! Daddy! Come here!" Justin, who had been looking behind the heavy, maroon curtains, walked over to Gus, who was kneeling behind our suede recliner chair as I knelt down beside him.

Without saying a word, my son slowly pulled back the rear flap that covered the inner workings of the chair to expose a pair of red, beady eyes staring back at us. Shaking my head in amazement, I reached inside with the intention of grabbing the ruffian by the scruff of his neck when the rabbit made a sudden move and I thought better of it. Thoughts of painful rabies shots flashed through my head as I suggested, "Uh, Sunshine...get a hold of him, will you?"

Justin rolled his eyes over my thinly-veiled anxiety as he reached in and pulled Snowball out by his collar as I merely lifted my eyebrows in challenge. "Here you go, Gus," he told my son as he placed the errant animal in his arms. "Sure you can handle him? We don't want him getting loose again."

Gus nodded as he wrapped his arms firmly around the miscreant and held onto his collar. "I won't let him out of my sight," he vowed as he stood up with him.

Knowing instinctively that it was important to show that I trusted my son, I nodded. "I'll follow you up to open the cage so you can put him back in."

Just as I reached the door to follow him, Justin murmured, "Our hero." Glaring at him in mock reproach, he added with a grin, "I'll go get his bath ready."

* * *

Having read Gus a bedtime story about fifteen minutes earlier - ironically about the Velveteen Rabbit - my son had finally fallen asleep next to me in his bed and I took advantage of the relative calm to return to the master bedroom to find my partner sitting up in bed, his back to the massive, mahogany headboard as he perused the latest edition of _Art Forum_ magazine. He was wearing a pair of lightweight sweatpants but nothing else. My eyes swept over his smooth chest and long, masculine fingers that always drove me to distraction as I deadpanned, "Reading about yourself again?"

To my surprise, he looked over at me in embarrassment like he had been caught doing something wrong and replied, "Well, it _is_ an honor."

I frowned in confusion as I walked over and pried the magazine out of his hands to discover yet _another_ article written about him, complete with a small, color photo. It was touting one of his latest pieces that had been displayed at a small studio in Chelsea. Justin had found that it was easier for him to get his foot in the door in New York City if he concentrated on the more intimate, eclectic art studios, rather than the large, impersonal ones.

I gaped, open-mouthed, as I quickly read over the writer's brief but glowing commentary on his latest piece entitled _Assent_, which chronicled Justin's slow but steady rise to recognition in a highly competitive arena. "Justin, why didn't you tell me about this?" I demanded, somewhat hurt that he would keep this from me.

I make short shrift of my clothing before crawling onto the bed to sit next to him as he replied sheepishly, "I forgot about it until it arrived in the mail today. The owner of the gallery mentioned it to me a few days ago, but with Gus arriving and all it slipped my mind. It's not that big a deal, Brian; it's just a small mention in the upcoming events section."

"A small mention? Justin, this is a nationally recognized art magazine, and it's the second time you've been mentioned in less than three years! This is amazing!" I told him sincerely as he blushed over the tone of my voice. "Fuck, I'm so proud of you, Sunshine," I whispered to him as I looked at the photo of him in the magazine before placing the periodical down onto the mattress beside me. Curling my lips under, I added, "Want to celebrate your fame?"

He grinned as our lips came together for a kiss that quickly escalated from playful to passionate.

"Gus asleep?" Justin managed to gasp out in between kisses as I slid my hand underneath his sweat pants to grasp his cock and begin to stroke it. The shaft was rock hard, just like mine as I growled, "Damn straight he is," before, with one quick motion, I pulled his pants down to pool at his feet and launched myself on top of him. As I twisted my body to lie on top of his smaller one, our cocks brushed up against each other, the friction causing both of us to groan at the sensation. "I'm going to fuck you so hard, Picasso," I huskily vowed as I began to rain small kisses down his neck and shoulders on my way to his chest and belly. "Then I can tell everyone I knew you before you were famous."

Justin giggled as he flopped his hands out to his side and told me, "Then do it; have your way with me." It sounded like he was surrendering to me so I could do what I wanted with him, but we both knew who was really controlling this situation at the moment, and Justin was anything but helpless where I was concerned.

Nevertheless, not one to pass up such an intriguing invitation, I grinned. "My pleasure," I told him before I proceeded to do just that.


	4. You're No Bunny Until Some Bunny Loves U

_Brian finds out he's not the only one who enjoys the nicer things in life. _

* * *

_The Next Morning..._

"Well, look who decided to get up before noon," Justin teased me as I shuffled, barefoot and bleary-eyed, into the kitchen. Justin was actually about three hours off; it was just past 9:00, but already he and my son were hard at work on dyeing the eggs for tomorrow's hunt. Before coming down, I had peeked into Gus's room to ensure that "Snowball" was still confined to his cage; I was relieved to find that he was. Other than some cedar shavings being thrown onto the large-size beach towel that Gus had placed underneath the cage, everything else appeared to be normal. The bag of carrots was lying nearby, looking suspiciously less full than last night.

I had to smile at my son, who was kneeling on a padded counter stool next to Justin in front of the granite cooking island. Apparently Justin had not only dyed the eggs, but my son as well; he was currently sporting a clown face, complete with black, button nose, white, outlined, oversized mouth, and a daisy on the apple of each cheek.

"Hi, Daddy!" he chirped out happily as he twisted his head to peer over at me. "Look what Justin did to my face! I'm a clown!" His teeth gleamed against the painted face and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

I laughed as I walked closer. "Yes, you certainly ARE a clown," I told him as I smiled over at my partner, who grinned back at me. "I hope that's water-based paint, by the way," I whispered in Justin's ear. "I am not going to have my son parading around the Pitts as an unpaid advertisement for the spring performances of Ringling's Barnum and Bailey Circus."

I leaned in to kiss Justin on the lips, having given them a thorough exploration last night in between a fucking session in bed and one in the shower afterward. Even now, every time we kissed my body reacted accordingly as my pulse quickened and my heart fluttered. From the first moment we had exchanged spit years ago, I knew Justin was a consummate kisser, and even today, I craved no one else's kisses but his. But then why should I, I figured? I had the best already.

Justin grinned as he nuzzled my nose briefly. "It'll wash off," he assured me as I nodded in relief. I looked over his shoulder to view the eggs that were ready to be hidden, and of course, several of them were miniature works of art that had obviously been done by the house artiste; there was definitely an advantage to having a creative soul in the family when it came to attractive eggs. I noticed to my satisfaction, though, that there were also several eggs that my son had clearly designed with one of those wax pens you use to draw pictures and words with. I reached down to hold up a pale, yellow one to see a rudimentary drawing of a family - what appeared to be a small child holding hands with two adults, anyway - noticing that Gus had scrawled his name and "D" and "J" beneath them. My heart swelled up with emotion and I bit back tears that threatened to bubble to the surface as I cleared my throat. "Is the Easter Bunny going to hide those, Sonny Boy?" I asked as I placed one hand each on Justin and my son's shoulders as I stood between them.

Gus nodded vigorously as I briefly wished he would stay this innocent age forever; I realized, though, that the days of my child's most favorite, imaginary characters were quickly coming to an end - as invariably happens, someone at his school would eventually, maybe quite soon, divulge the real, unvarnished truth behind the fantasies that his childhood had nurtured and the real-life world would intrude instead. For now, however, I was determined to savor it - and let Gus enjoy it - for as long as I could.

I smiled. "I hope you have a big enough Easter basket for those."

Gus pointed over to the counter where a large basket was perched. His name had been written in large, white and black letters on the front, no doubt by our artist-in-residence. "Oh," I replied in understanding. "That should be plenty big enough." He nodded as I smiled, my heart warming at the obscenely domestic scene between my son and my partner. But you know what? At the moment I didn't give a shit; I fucking loved it. Of course, I would never say that aloud in front of Justin, but honestly it didn't matter, because both he and I knew that he realized how I felt anyway.

"Well, I'll let you boys get back to work, then," I told them as I leaned down to kiss Justin on the cheek in a silent thank you for taking such good care of the 'other' boy that I loved so deeply. "I'm going to go take a shower."

Justin nodded as he reached back to tenderly cup my jaw with his hand before I turned and left them to their festivities.

* * *

_Sunday Morning - Easter_

Sounds akin to a banshee screeching woke me from my sleep as I groaned; flopping over onto my back, I turned my head after a few seconds to notice Justin was gone from our bed; the clock on the nightstand read 8:30 a.m. Deciding I wasn't going to get any more sleep, I rolled to a sitting position and padded over to the bathroom to study my reflection in the mirror. I gaped in horror as I thought I noticed a lone, gray hair near my left temple. A quick retrieval of the tweezers out of the top left drawer a moment later, I quickly dispatched the sign of 'distinguished aging,' vowing to never divulge what I had found to my partner or anyone else as I turned on the hot water and slipped into the glass shower stall.

Dressed shortly afterward in a pair of well-loved jeans and rubbing my head briskly with one of our Egyptian towels, I wandered over to the window that overlooked the backyard. I couldn't help smiling as I watched my son stooping down to pick up a colored Easter egg from our cement fountain out in the garden area. Justin had hidden another one in the mouth of the cocker spaniel statue that sat next to one of our shade trees and accompanied a stone bench. I thought the dog statue was one of the ugliest adornments I had ever seen, but it had come with the house and for some reason that I couldn't fathom Justin had taken a liking to it; reminding me it was a lot better than having the real thing running around in the house, leaving hair everywhere. Once he put it that way, I decided it was quite attractive as an outdoor feature.

Grinning at my son's excitement over finding the eggs - he literally jumped up and down in glee before he put his latest treasure in his basket each time he discovered one - I walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to Gus's room in search of a favorite sweater that I had hung in his closet along with some other extra clothes that wouldn't fit in the master bedroom space.

As soon as I entered his room, however, my eye was immediately drawn over to Snowball's cage. The cage was still there, all right, only there was no Snowball. "What the fuck?" I murmured, perplexed. The door to the cage was securely fastened, though, so there was no way the rabbit had gotten out on its own this time. That meant only one thing - I hoped.

"Gus..." I sighed, hoping he had followed my directions previously. Walking over to the adjoining bathroom, I pushed the door open a little wider to peer inside.

Sure enough, sitting in the middle of the marble-encased, beige-colored bathtub was Snowball, his nose twitching back and forth and his mouth sliding from side to side as he idly chewed on a baby carrot, swaddled by a piece of bunched up, dark blue cloth. I was relieved, at least, to know that he wasn't running loose this time. Thinking the cloth looked familiar, though, I walked closer until it dawned on me exactly what it was: the precise sweater that I had come in search of. "What...the...hell!?" I yelled as the rabbit abruptly jumped straight up in the air before landing back down, startled by my outburst.

My brows narrowing in disgust, I reached down and snatched the bunny's security blanket out from under him; his little paws scrabbled for purchase before he hopped onto the light blue, rubber mat a few inches away and sat there, his beady, pinkish eyes staring at me for a few moments before he resumed his nonchalant munching on his carrot. I held up the sweater and scrunched up my nose at the acrid, telltale smell of urine that assailed my nostrils. "Shit," I growled as I held it out as far away from my body as I could like it was a dead rat; I knew there was no way I could possibly resurrect it now. One of my favorite, well-loved cashmere sweaters was about to travel to the Great Drycleaner in the Sky - or at least to Goodwill.

I sighed heavily; being a father certainly had its pleasurable moments, but this was definitely not one of them. "Good thing I love you so much, Sonny Boy," I muttered as I dropped the now-ruined cashmere sweater into the bathroom wastebasket and walked over to the sink to thoroughly scrub my hands before, with one last look at the furry perpetrator, I walked back out in search of something else to wear.

* * *

"Daddy! Look at all my eggs!" Gus shouted as soon as he saw me emerging from the back of the house. I smiled in amusement as Gus struggled to tug the container closer to me so I could see them; the basket was almost brimming over with eggs that he had found, and it had to weigh a ton. Apparently my son was quite the detective when it came to Easter egg hunting - or else Justin was a horrible Easter Bunny impersonator.

"That's great, Gus!" I told him warmly as I grinned over at him, my previous irritation regarding Snowball now evaporated. "You've got quite a haul there." I noticed besides the eggs that the basket now held a couple of chocolate Easter bunnies, some gold money coins, a generous smattering of jelly beans and a couple of die cast, metal cars nestled within the accordion strips of green paper meant to resemble grass. I raised an eyebrow curiously as I surveyed his bounty. "Did the Easter Bunny leave you all those goodies, Sonny Boy?" I asked as my eyes lifted to meet my partner's and I noticed a slight blush of guilt appear on his cheeks when he realized he had been caught. I had distinctly told Justin no junk food last night; apparently someone hadn't listened very well. No worry, though; I would make sure he was sufficiently 'punished' for that little crime later.

Gus bobbed his head up and down excitedly as I reached to help him heave his treasure up onto our glass-topped, oval patio table.

"Hmm," I replied noncommittally as I surveyed his stash. "Must be two million carbs in there. You'll be bouncing off the walls at some point, no doubt. Well, no eating candy for you until later, young man."

"Aw, Daddy...Not even jelly beans? Beans are a veg'table."

I grasped my son's wrist gently but firmly as he tried to reach out to grab some of the loose candy lying in the folds of the paper grass; I knew he was heading straight for the cherry beans since those were his favorite. "Uh, uh, uh," I told him with a laugh. "Jelly beans are NOT a 'veg'table' and you know it," I gently chided him as he grinned impishly back at me and giggled. _Little rascal._ I couldn't help admiring his spunkiness, though, as I reached out and tickled him at the side of his waist, making him chortle as he squirmed under my control.

"Daddy, cut it out!" he managed to sputter out as I finally let go of him with a grin.

I shook my head with a smile. "All right, Sonny Boy, let's go in and find some breakfast, okay? And then we can do some horseback riding."

"Yeah!" my son squealed as he promptly grabbed his two die-cast cars and rushed toward the back door, leaving the basket temporarily forgotten. I watched him pull on the handle to open the glass sliding door to no avail. "Daddy, come on!" he urged me impatiently, wanting to get his breakfast over with so we could saddle up the horses, one of his favorite pastimes when he came to visit.

"I'm coming, Sonny Boy," I assured him as I turned to eye my partner. "I assume you're going to tell me that all this candy just appeared magically overnight."

He nodded back at me solemnly. "By a giant rabbit named Harvey."

"Uh, huh," I answered dryly. "Well, tell 'Harvey' that I'm going to paddle his big, furry ass later tonight in bed and then he and I will be doing some private riding of our own afterward."

Justin grinned. "I'll be sure to pass that along to him. I think he'll be looking forward to it," he divulged. "I happen to know that he's a kinky little bastard."

I swatted Justin on his ample bubble butt for emphasis as he turned to tag after Gus, earning an "ow!" in reaction as I smirked back at him. "Later," I promised as he rolled his eyes before smiling back at me, making my heart skip a beat.

* * *

_Later that Evening..._

"Remind me to replace my cashmere sweater the next time we shop downtown," I told Justin as he lay nestled in my arms in our bed, my fingers slowly stroking the smooth, soft flesh of his shoulder as we came down from our post-sex high a few minutes earlier. Gus and his furry charge had long ago retired to their own bedroom, and we were at last alone to savor some much-needed privacy.

Justin twisted his head to peer up at me through his incredibly lush, golden lashes; some wisps of his bangs were hanging in his eyes and making him look especially fuckable. Of course, to me he was always fuckable, but I especially loved seeing him sporting longer hair. I knew he actually did it to indulge me, because he normally preferred to keep it a little shorter for maintenance purposes, so that just made me love him even more.

"Are you talking about your dark blue one?"

I nodded as I continued to slowly caress his shoulder. "Yeah," I said through pursed lips, recalling what had happened earlier.

He frowned. "Why would you need to replace it? You're always so meticulous when it comes to your clothes, and you love that sweater. They normally look like they just came off the rack."

I snorted. "Yeah, normally they're impeccable; except when someone's using it for nesting material for a rabbit in the bathtub."

Justin lifted his head as his eyes grew wide. "Shit, are you kidding me?"

I huffed. "I wish. I went into Gus's bedroom earlier to look for my sweater in his closet, and when I noticed Snowball wasn't in his cage I looked in the bathtub, and there he was - chomping away on a carrot right smack dab on top of my Armani sweater. Looked pretty smug about it, too."

Justin laughed at the disgusted look on my face. "Oh, my God! Does Gus know?"

I sighed as I shook my head. "No," I admitted.

"Why didn't you tell him?" he asked me softly, his hand lying palm down on my chest as he peered up at me. I had a suspicion, though, that he already knew the answer.

"I didn't want him to feel bad," I told him honestly. "I'm sure he just picked something out of the closet that felt soft; he couldn't have known how expensive it was. So what would have been the point?"

Justin smiled slightly as his palm slowly slid up my chest toward my neck. "You're not going to tell me you weren't pissed to see your favorite sweater being used as a cedar shaving replacement?"

"Of course I was pissed," I admitted readily. I grimaced. "The damn rabbit had already pissed on it, too, by the way," I retorted in recollection as Justin's mouth hung open in surprise. I shrugged. "But it's just a sweater; a fucking _designer_ sweater, but it's still just a piece of clothing. It can be replaced; my time with my son cannot."

Justin raised his head to look into my eyes, his blue eyes boring into mine. "You're really something," he murmured as his roaming hand stilled on my shoulder.

"Yes, I am," I agreed, tongue-in-cheek, curling my lips under as I smiled down at him.

Justin grinned at the predictable response before his expression transformed into something more serious. His blue eyes studied me for a few seconds before he whispered to me, "You're a good father, Brian. Gus worships you, you know. And he's so proud of you."

My heart swelled at my partner's words; it was so important to me that I serve as a good role model for my son. Oh, I would never be a saint or a PTA parent by any means, but I could at least provide my son with plenty of love, support and attention, qualities that had been sadly lacking in my own upbringing. It had taken me quite some time to overcome the fear that I wasn't much better at being a parent than my own father, but over time I had realized I was nothing like him. I LOVED my son; I wanted him in my life. And I planned on proving that to him until I was cold in the grave.

The side of my lips curved upward as I pulled Justin closer to me and opened my stance until he twisted his body to lie on top of mine. "He's a hell of a boy," I told him, unable to keep the pride out of my voice as my hands reached up to slide around Justin's waist and he placed his hands on my biceps to steady himself. "And you're a hell of a partner," I whispered sincerely as Justin's face flushed in pleasure. Even now, I had no trouble evoking that reaction in him, and it still gave me immense satisfaction to know that I could do that. Justin always had treasured the smallest of romantic gestures on my part; granted, it had become a little easier over the years for me to do it, but it was still difficult for me. And the reaction I always received - not to mention the great sex that came with it - was well worth it.

Justin smiled as he let out a soft sigh of contentment. "I love you," he whispered back to me as he rubbed his thumbs back and forth across my upper arms, his warm body covering mine. I could feel our mutual desire between us as our lips came together of one accord for a deep kiss.

We finally broke apart to obtain some much-needed air as I quipped, "Care to show me how much?" Just in case there were any doubts as to my meaning, I slid my hands down to glide over the swell of his ass and cup the rounded globes, slipping one index finger in between his crack to lightly run it between the cheeks and receiving an appreciative hiss in response.

Justin grinned. "I think that can be arranged," he assured me as we began to kiss once more. Our passion soon flared anew as arms and legs tangled together, my hands kneading the fleshy skin between my fingers as I made my intentions quite clear. Between Justin's abundant, thick, cock, his wondrous bubble butt, and those provocative, talented kisses, my partner was perfection to me, and I could think of nothing more perfect than our making love.

"Brian," I heard him whisper against my lips as we broke off our latest kiss, his breath ghosting over me as he spoke. "I want to ride you."

I gazed into his eyes, my heart accelerating in anticipation. "Well, then, giddy up, horsey," I responded with a smirk as Justin smacked me on the upper arm in reaction. "Saddle that ass up."

He grinned as he sat up on my thighs, bending his legs to straddle me. My cock stirred at the sight; I had long ago abandoned the ridiculous lighting that I had felt the need to highlight my bed with at the loft, but at the moment I wouldn't have needed it anyway. The full moon shining in through our expansive windows cast my partner in a virtual spotlight, his paler skin almost glowing under the attention. He was - and still is - so fucking beautiful that he takes my breath away even now.

I watched with rapt fascination as Justin leaned over to pull the tube of lube out of our bedside table and squirt some onto his hands, rubbing it between his palms to warm it up before he reached down and sensually slid it up and down my rock-hard shaft; I grunted in a jolt of pleasure as he briefly flicked the tip of my head with his thumb before he grasped my cock with his skilled hand and dug his heels into the mattress to rise slightly from my body. I held my breath, knowing what was to come, just before Justin lined his body up with mine and promptly sank all the way down to my balls.

"Agggghhh," was my slightly coherent reply as my partner grasped my waist for balance and squirmed slightly against me to shift the angle of penetration. "Fuck, Justin!" I growled as a wave of pleasure roiled through me.

Justin grinned smugly as he rose up from my cock and promptly sank back down, twisting his body so he could impale my dick right on his sweet spot. I moaned loudly in reaction like an inexperienced virgin as he began a slow, rhythmic motion up and down on my bare cock and I lifted my hips up to deepen the sensation. Justin periodically leaned over to steal a kiss or two from me, his quite willing captive, as he continued to ride me mercilessly. Sweat pouring down into my eyes, I blindly reached up to grab his biceps in the throes of our passion, my fingers digging into the tender flesh for purchase and knowing I would be leaving marks of possession tomorrow, but finding myself unable to prevent it.

As I felt my climax approaching, the need for Justin to join me down that same, pleasurable path culminated in my reaching out to stroke his cock in time with our movements, and it wasn't long before my body clenched like a well-coiled spring before erupting into a rush of ecstasy, my come gushing into the hot, slick channel. A few more tugs of Justin's cock and my lover cried out with a guttural shout, his milky seed spurting copiously between us.

Later, as we lay in bed side-by-side, my arms clasped around him protectively as I spooned up against him, just before I could tell he was drifting off to sleep, I managed one more of those 'romantic gestures.' "By the way," I whispered as I cradled my head in the crook of his shoulder. "I love you, too." A soft sigh of acknowledgment was the only response I received, Justin inherently knowing not to make a big deal of it, as he reached up to cup his hands over mine before we both drifted off to sleep.


	5. You Give Me Fever

_Brian begins to feel sick - but he's still an ad man.;)_

* * *

_End of the Week..._

"Daddy, come and swim with me," Gus implored from the shallow end of the pool as he peered over at me, his big eyes boring into mine pleadingly. With his swim fins and bright, lime-green swimmies attached to his upper arms, he looked like a human version of Kermit the frog as he clutched a foam ball in his hands. A floating basketball goal was bobbing up and down lazily at the deep end of the pool beside the diving board.

Even with it being early spring, I didn't have to worry about the pool's temperature. One of the extravagant luxuries Britin provided was an enclosed, heated swimming pool immediately off the back patio, an indulgence that allowed Justin and me to swim all year round, and Gus adored using it whenever he was able to visit; he was a virtual fish in the water from an early age. Normally, I would have participated quite willingly in his request - my son being a most persuasive person just like his old man - but I happened to feel like crap at the moment. My entire body ached almost like I had the flu, even though the season had been a remarkably light one according to all the news reports, and I didn't know anyone who had had the flu recently. But there was no mistaking the aches, runny nose, and watery eyes I was experiencing.

I smiled over at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Sonny Boy, but not right now. I'm not feeling so well," I admitted truthfully. A few seconds later, my son trudged through the water and used the built-in steps to emerge from the pool and grab his oversized beach towel and, taking a few moments to dry himself off, he discarded his swim fins before shuffling over barefoot to sit on the vinyl chair next to my matching chaise. "What is it, Daddy?" he asked in concern, pursing his lips together thoughtfully as he stared over at me.

My heart warmed over his concerned tone of voice despite the way I felt. "I think it might be the flu, Gus," I advised him. "So you'd better not get too close to Daddy. I wouldn't want you to get it."

He furrowed his brow. "Do you hurt?"

I smiled. "A little," I confessed. "Kind of achy; but don't worry; I'm sure I'll be fine soon."

He frowned as Justin slid the back door open from the house and walked outside. "Daddy doesn't feel so good, Justin," he announced to my partner immediately as I bit back a groan; the only thing worse than a well-intentioned son hovering over me was Justin mothering me to death. Fortunately, I had long ago abandoned my drunken, drug-induced binges, so I didn't get sick too often, but when I did Justin was just this side of overbearing in his attentiveness toward me.

Just as I feared, my partner placed the tray of ice tea glasses and the pitcher he was carrying down on the nearby table, and walked over to sit down next to my son as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," I told him dismissively, trying to sound convincingly carefree but probably failing miserably. "I think it's a cold or maybe the flu. I'll be fine; it's nothing to worry about."

To my chagrin, however, Justin reached over and placed his hand against my forehead. "Shit, Brian, you're burning up!" he reported, the profanity escaping his lips unexpectedly. Normally around Gus Justin was the one constantly reminding me not to swear in front of him; now I knew I was in trouble.

"Justin..."

"I'm getting the ibuprofen," he decided as he quickly rose from the side of the lounge chair and proceeded back the way he had come.

"Oh, for cryi...Justin! I don't need any medicine..."

"Quiet!" he retorted sharply, going all Florence Nightingale on me as he whirled around and pointed a finger at me. "Gus, I'm putting you in charge of your father; make sure he stays put until I bring the medicine back, okay?"

Gus dutifully nodded as I sighed; one of them was bad enough - having two commanding me around was unfair. I watched Justin slide the back door open, and disappear back inside.

"Don't worry, Daddy," my son cooed sympathetically. "Jus'n and I will take good care of you." He walked over to retrieve one of the ice tea glasses before returning to hold the glass up against my forehead. I had to admit; the cool wetness felt pretty damn good against my heated skin, even if I did feel ridiculous at the moment with a glass pressed against my head.

"Does that help?" he asked me as his anxious eyes bored into mine. I reached up to stroke his soft cheek with the back of my hand as I smiled and nodded. "Much; thanks, Sonny Boy." He beamed at me in pleasure as I reminded him, "Don't get too close, though, Gus; if I have something you can catch, your moms will not like it if you get sick just before you're due to go back to school."

I reached up to take the glass away from him and hold it in my hand, continuing to relish the coolness. I hadn't really noticed that I had a fever, but the contrast sure felt good nonetheless. I turned my head as I heard Justin sliding the door back open, walking outside with a bottle of ibuprofen in one hand and a mercury thermometer in the other. He was wearing an expression that belied his concern, though; if I didn't know better, I would have said it was amusement, since he had this sort of enigmatic, "Mona Lisa" type smile on his face. "What's so funny?" I said a little crossly. "There's a sick man here, you know."

He smiled at my sulking as he sat down next to Gus again and held the thermometer out toward me. "Here, stick this in your mouth," he instructed me as I wrinkled my nose at the thought and turned my head away just in time to avoid the approaching missile.

"Oh, don't be such a big baby," he chided me as Gus had the nerve to giggle over my predicament. Justin sighed as I glared at him. "Okay. Maybe I didn't word that right. How about this? Either you open your mouth and stick that thermometer in, or I'll go find a _different _type of thermometer and stick it up your..."

Despite the fact that I felt like shit at the moment, I couldn't help smirking over my partner's demands. "Kinky. Maybe I should apply for a patent on a dildo thermometer." I noticed Gus frowning, perplexed, no doubt wondering what I was talking about as Justin rolled his eyes and pursed his lips together in irritation. He cocked one eyebrow upward expectantly and waved the thermometer in front of my lips in that _'I'm not taking no for an answer'_ look that he occasionally got when he refused to back down.

"Where did you get that antique, anyway?" I groused at him as I cringed at the sight of the old-fashioned instrument. "I've got a nice, new ear thermometer upstairs in the bathroom medicine cabinet, you know."

"I don't trust those," he told me. "I think these are more accurate. Now open up and quit stalling."

Sighing in resignation, I parted my lips enough for him to slide it in under my tongue - none too gently, I might add. I glared at him as he smiled back at me innocently and sat down on the edge of the chair like some prison warden to make sure I kept it in my mouth for the required time.

Three minutes later, he pulled it out and twirled it between his fingers until he could read the display clearly. "Brian, you've got a 101º fever! I knew you felt hot."

"I'm always hot," was the automatic reply as Justin snorted.

"Lie back," Justin demanded as he pushed me by my shoulders to make sure I complied as my head hit the small pillow attached to the back of the lounger. Any other time, my partner's dominant demeanor would be kind of a major turn on to me, but in my current state I felt anything but horny. In fact, I was feeling pretty fucking miserable by the second.

"Take this," Justin directed as he emptied a couple of ibuprofen into his palm and handed them to me. As I downed the two pills with a couple swigs of the iced tea and handed the glass back to him, Gus reached over to snag a dry beach towel that was hanging over the back of the adjacent lounge chair and draped it over my body, pulling it up so it rested just below my neck and tucking it in around the sides of my waist like I was a 6'2" version of the Baby Moses.

I watched Justin smile tenderly at my son over his thoughtfulness as Gus leaned over to stare into my face, his anxiety clear. "I'm going to be fine, Sonny Boy," I assured him softly, sensing his worry. Ironically, in a way my son's tenderheartedness reminded me more of Justin than it did me, but I wasn't complaining. Even though I presently felt like a couple of mother hens were clucking over me, I could think of worse things than having the two boys that I loved watching over me and taking care of me.

"I feel better now," I lied to my son as I forced myself to smile and reached out to lightly ruffle his hair. "Go back in the pool and swim; it's your last day before your moms pick you up tomorrow morning," I reminded him. "I'll stay right here and watch you play basketball. Maybe you can even talk Sunshine here into playing with you," I suggested as Gus's eyes lit up at the thought, probably because he knew Justin was not so talented in the athletic dexterity department and he could easily beat him.

"Brian, maybe you should..."

"Justin, I am NOT going up to the bedroom to lie down, so don't even suggest that," I warned him as he pressed his lips tightly together, in essence confirming that was precisely what he was going to say. "I'm fine right here." Despite how awful I felt at the moment, I wasn't about to miss one minute of being with my son.

He sighed at me as I merely raised an eyebrow in challenge. "You're impossible," he finally said at last, but there was no sting in his words. He knew the reason why I didn't want to move, and it had nothing to do with stubbornness or defiance.

"I am," I agreed congenially enough; well, at least as congenial as I could be while I felt like crap. Even my throat was getting raspy, kind of like a fag version of Kathleen Turner, I decided.

Justin shook his head, knowing this was a fight he wasn't going to win. "Let me go get my swim trunks," he finally said as he got up from the chaise.

"Is that necessary?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yes, DAD, it's necessary," he retorted as I grinned despite my condition. I may have been feeling lousy, but I still never wanted to pass up any opportunity to see my beautiful partner in the all-together. Perhaps it was too early, though, to initiate my son into the joys of the flesh, even if he was just a bystander and not a participant.

I made a pretense of sighing heavily in disappointment. "Spoilsport," I quipped as Justin turned to go. "At least wear the navy speedo, then," I commanded as he began to walk away. "I'm on my deathbed here, and I need the inspiration to keep going."

Justin merely harrumphed and shook his head in response as he walked away.

"You're not dying, Daddy," Gus chided me as I grinned.

"No," I admitted readily. "I was just trying to get sympathy."

Gus giggled, relieved that I didn't seem to have lost my sense of humor, anyway.

"Now show me your best jump off the board, Sonny Boy," I told him as he nodded excitedly, his eyes sparkling. I watched as he scurried over to the far end of the pool and, leaping up onto the board, he cried out, "Watch me, Daddy!" before he ran to the end of the board and promptly launched himself into a not-so-graceful cannonball, a few of the drops spattering my face. As he came up a few seconds later, though, you would have thought he had just outdone Greg Louganis by the excited look on his face.

I coughed a couple of times before I stuck my right thumb up and croaked out, "I give that one a ten, Sonny Boy." He beamed at me in response as he swam over to the side of the pool and retrieved the foam basketball, just in time for Justin to open the sliding glass door and reemerge back outside. Despite feeling worse by the second, my cock apparently hadn't gotten the message that I was feeling ill, because it was still functioning quite well, thank you, as it spied Justin in his tight, teeny-tiny speedo and began to grow uncomfortably hard in response; the navy satin outlined every curve of his perfect ass as well as his impressive package, and the dark blue contrasted extremely well against his pale skin. I had decided the first moment that I had seen him wearing it a few months ago that the only thing that looked better on Justin was nothing at all; he was hot, hot, hot in it.

I groaned inwardly, knowing there was no way I could take care of my not-so-little problem with the way I felt at the moment; the only thing hotter right now than my partner was my forehead. Even after ditching the towel that Gus had thrown over me a few minutes ago - feeling like I was a human bonfire under its shelter - and only wearing a pair of swim trunks myself, I still felt like I was burning up.

Justin smiled over at Gus as he told him, "I'll be right there, Buddy," before he walked over and sat down across from me. "You really look like shit, Brian," he murmured out of Gus's hearing.

"Why thank you, Sunshine," I replied sarcastically. "You said I was hot earlier."

He reached over to place one cool, pale hand against my forehead as his brow creased in concern. "You're still hot," he told me, ignoring my quip. "That medicine doesn't seem to be kicking in."

I huffed before letting go with another cough, wondering idly if that was a flu symptom. I had never actually HAD the flu, so I wasn't sure. "It's only been a few minutes, Einstein," I reminded him. "I'll be fine. I don't need babying - go play with Gus and just let me rest here, okay?"

"I could go get Snowball and bring his cage down to keep you company," he offered, his eyes twinkling.

"No, thanks," I told him dryly. "Are you trying to make me feel better or worse? Now go."

He nodded, leaning over with the intention of kissing me, but I held my hand up to stop him. Not that I ever wanted to pass up such an opportunity, but I didn't want him getting the flu, either. He sighed in understanding before rising up to join Gus in the pool, my eyes following the intriguing, curved shape of his ass as it swished provocatively back and forth. "Shit," I muttered in frustration, knowing my cock was going to be neglected for a while. I curled my fingers into my palms and closed my eyes, hoping the medicine would take effect soon. Eventually, it must have worked, because after a while the sounds of the water splashing, the warmth of the sun beating through the glass panes of the enclosure, and my son's laughter and Justin's soothing voice served to lull me to sleep.


	6. Just a Measly Little Illness?

_Brian finds out exactly what's wrong with him - and uses it to his advantage_.;)

* * *

_The Next Morning..._

My eyes slowly fluttered open as sunlight hit me in the face; the rays bathed the bedroom in brilliant light. I had tossed and turned most of the night, finding myself alone in our bed after insisting Justin not sleep with me for fear he would pick up what I had. He was so susceptible to allergic reactions to many medicines that I had reluctantly decided it was best if we didn't sleep together last night. Of course, I missed his presence terribly, and I had paid the price. Between my sickness and the loss of his warm body pressed up against mine, I slept fitfully at best and didn't actually fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning.

I groaned as I turned my head to observe the clock read 8:00; I had gotten two whole hours of sleep. I longed to surrender to my sleepiness - the latest round of ibuprofen that I had taken a few hours ago finally kicking in - but I knew that Mel and Lindsay were due to pick up Gus in about an hour, so that was not an option. Instead, I forced myself to rise from the bed and trudge toward the shower, stopping briefly to grab some casual clothes from the top dresser drawer.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I shuffled out of the bedroom and down the hallway to peek inside the adjacent guest bedroom, finding the bed slept in but empty; Justin was apparently already up. Hearing what sounded like his voice coming from downstairs, I trudged down the steps, following the clear sound now of my partner and my son.

It didn't take much to surmise that they were in the kitchen; their healthy appetites were another trait they had in common. Walking stiffly down the hall, I stopped just inside the kitchen doorway to quietly observe them together. Justin and Gus were perched on matching stools side-by-side at the kitchen island, a heaping plate of pancakes in front of them with a generous helping of syrup swimming on top. Gus was drinking a tall glass of milk, while Justin was sipping from his favorite coffee mug - a white one that said _Artists Bring Color to our World_. I had found it in a small hotel gift shop on one of my business trips to Chicago, and had impulsively picked it up for him. When I had given it to him later after getting home, you would have thought I was presenting him with a genuine Warhol instead of a cheap ceramic mug that had been made in China, but I had received such a warm smile and a passionate kiss in return that I had decided it was even better than that.

Just then, he lifted his gaze to notice me standing there, and my heart skipped a beat at the smile on his face. God, I will never tire of that feeling - or that smile. "Hey," he called out softly.

"Hi, Daddy! Want some pancakes?" Gus chirped as he held up a large bite of pancake, the syrup dripping profusely back onto his plate. "Justin made them."

I smiled despite my discomfort. "I figured that," I told him wryly. "No thanks, Sonny Boy; you go ahead."

"Brian," Justin murmured as he slid off his stool and walked around the counter to study me. "Are you feeling any better today? Why are you out of bed?"

_Because you weren't in it_, I couldn't help thinking. Deciding that sounded way too lesbionic, though, I rolled my eyes in disdain to keep up my image. "You're not my keeper, Sunshine," I scolded him. "I wanted to say goodbye to Gus," I explained softly, a lump forming in my throat at the thought, and not because of my sickness. I always got that way when my son was leaving. I knew it was silly - he only lived 30 minutes away now - but I still regretted it every time we had to part. If Justin had still been gone, it would have been even worse; that, and the fact that I saw Gus now on a frequent basis, was the only thing that made these separations tolerable. One day, I hoped that I could keep him longer; perhaps for the summer? We hadn't really talked about it - Justin, me, and the moms - but I had certainly thought about it enough. Now that my son lived near me again, I couldn't think of a reason why not. It never occurred to me to even consider how much I had changed over the years when it came to my son; it was what it was, and now I wouldn't change a thing, except to perhaps go back and spend more time with Gus than I had. But we couldn't go back; only forward, and I intended to take advantage of my son's proximity to its fullest.

Justin nodded in understanding. "Coffee?" he asked, dying to ask me more but holding off for now. I nodded as he walked over to the coffeemaker and poured me a mugful to place it down at the end of the counter along with the sugar dispenser. I walked over, holding back a groan at the achiness permeating my entire body, as I poured a generous amount of sugar into the black liquid and lifted it to my lips, savoring the warmth in the back of my throat. It helped only minutely to dull the soreness there, though. I knew the benefit of the latest round of ibuprofen was wearing off and I would need a couple more soon, but for now I wanted to spend the last remaining moments I could with my son.

"Snowball all set to go?" I asked, my voice a little hoarse.

Gus nodded. "He's already downstairs by the front door," he reported to my relief. I couldn't deny I wouldn't be sorry to see that fleabag go. I had managed to subtly direct Justin to 'encourage' Gus to utilize the worn blankets we kept as emergency spares for winter time driving to swaddle the rabbit in instead of one of my expensive sweaters after that first night, so at least I was assured no more of my designer clothing had been sacrificed during his visit. And after the rabbit's 'great escape' the other night, Justin or I made sure the gate was securely latched each time my son went to bed, so thankfully there had been no more impromptu, 'wascally wabbit' hunts.

Gus dispatched his pancakes in record time - along with another glass of milk - before Justin sent him upstairs to grab his backpack and bring it down to the first floor, giving my partner just enough time to grill me privately, which he took immediate advantage of.

"Brian, I think you should go see a doctor about that," he stated flatly as I took another drink of my coffee. "It could be something serious and if it's the flu it could turn into something worse."

"Thank you, Mr. PSA," I replied curtly. "But I hate fucking doctors."

"I thought you _liked_ fucking doctors," was the instant quip, but that only led my mind back to the hot proctologist who had first told me I had a lump on my ball when he had sucked me off, and that just made me even MORE determined not to seek medical attention.

"Yeah, and look where that got me," I retorted.

"Yeah," Justin replied softly. "It saved your life."

I turned to gaze into his worried eyes and finally nodded. He had a point. "Okay," I sighed. "I'll make an appointment to go see the doctor, but AFTER Gus leaves. I don't want him to get worried, okay? Like someone _else_ I know." I longed to kiss the anxiety away from those perfect, pink lips as Justin peered over at me, but until I knew precisely what I was suffering from I was too afraid of passing something onto him. So I chose instead to try and convey through my face what I was feeling.

Justin smiled wistfully at me, a hint of relief on his face. "Okay." We were interrupted by Justin's cellphone ringing as he slid off the stool and walked over to his jacket hanging over the back of the nearby desk chair. Fishing it out to answer it, I was temporarily diverted by Gus's footsteps coming down the steps and then his voice. I couldn't help smiling as I overheard him cooing to the rabbit in baby talk and asking him how he was feeling and if he wanted another carrot. I was surprised by now that the rabbit didn't have orange fur, since he had practically eaten an entire small bag of the baby carrots out of our refrigerator during his stay, thanks to my son.

I turned my attention back to Justin then, who had his back to me as he spoke. I heard him mention someone's name, along with the word 'Mrs.,' so I knew it was a woman, but I did not recognize the name. I then heard him unexpectedly laugh as he turned around to look at me, and I lifted an eyebrow in question and frowned. All of a sudden, Justin's entire demeanor seemed to change, almost as if he were seeing my entire sickness as some kind of a joke now. _What the hell? _

"Well, I hope she gets to feeling better soon; thanks for telling me." He flipped his cellphone shut and eyed me in amusement.

"What?" I asked crossly, in no mood to be ridiculed. "Who was that?"

He grinned as he walked closer to me and unexpectedly kissed my dry, hot lips before I had a chance to stop him. "That was Mrs. Shepherd," he told me as I gave him a perplexed look and shook my head in confusion. "Rachel's mother? The one who came to the door?"

My face transformed into recollection as I let out another cough. "Oh, yeah - the cookie swindler."

He smiled. "Yeah, her. Seems that Rachel isn't feeling too well lately, either."

"What - her conscience bothering her for forcing so many carbs down your throat?"

"No, not exactly." He paused for a moment as his eyes bored into mine, like he was about to divulge some deep, dark secret. "Seems she has the measles."

"Poor girl," I said not-so-sympathetically. "At least the rash won't clash with her hair color."

Justin's grin widened, seemingly out of place considering I was about to keel over any second. "Brian...?"

"I'm glad you're enjoying my misery so much, Sunshine," I couldn't help growling irritably.

He reached over to stroke my cheek seemingly in sympathy as I wondered if he had lost his mind. Did he WANT to get what I had? "Don't touch me," I warned him, not willing to take the chance even though I was beginning to resent his cavalier attitude. I couldn't believe I was even saying that, anyway; that was one statement I never thought would ever escape my lips, especially when it came to Justin. He was like some sexy touch magnet - at least when he wasn't being such a twat.

"I had the measles when I was a kid," he informed me unexpectedly.

"I'm happy for you," I replied sarcastically, wondering where all this was leading.

"And If I remember correctly, Gus had the measles about a year ago, didn't he?" he continued his commentary. "I remember Lindsay mentioning it when they came down to visit last summer. Apparently Mel had to stay away from him until he was better, because she had never had it as a child."

I nodded. "Yeah," I said with a smile. "He played it up for all it was worth, too, from what Lindsay told me," I said, proud of his cleverness. "Got about a gallon of chocolate chip ice cream out of her while he was sick."

Justin nodded; a whisper of a smile still on his lips before he asked quietly, "Brian, have _you_ ever had the measles?"

I swallowed hard, feeling like a knife was sticking in my throat, and then what Justin said hit me as my eyes widened in epiphany. "Oh, shit."

Justin was trying to hide his glee, but he was doing a piss-poor job of it. "Just as I thought. Yep; this is your childhood, Brian Kinney!" he announced with a sweep of his hand like he was a reincarnation of Ralph Emery as he actually giggled over my look of horror.

I groaned as I cradled my head in my hands and closed my eyes in disgust. I had the fucking _measles_? "No way," I replied in disbelief. "Who gets the measles at MY age?" Not that I was old, I hastened to tell myself silently; I just wasn't a kid anymore.

"Yeah, you ARE pretty ancient," Justin replied as I bristled at the thought. "But apparently you do," Justin told me with a sympathetic smile now as he slid his arm around my shoulders. I shook my head as he murmured, "Look at it this way; at least we don't have to stay apart anymore, since I've already had it." He frowned as he bit his lip in thought. "I wonder where I put Debbie's chicken soup recipe..."

"Justin, I have the measles, not a cold!" I croaked out, the hoarseness in my voice not making me sound very authoritative or indignant at the moment. I winced as the pain in my throat flared up. "God, I need this like a man needs a tampon."

Justin chuckled, but his expression changed to a more solemn one as I grimaced over my discomfort. "You should really go lie down, Brian," he told me softly as he kissed my cheek.

I sighed. "I will," I promised as my partner rose to stand next to me. "But not until Gus is gone. I have a feeling I'm going to need a good nurse afterward, though. Know where I can find one?" I managed to waggle my eyebrows suggestively as Justin grinned.

"I think Emmett's available," he said helpfully.

I grimaced. "That's not making me feel better." Justin smiled as the 'royal chimes' sounded just then, signaling the arrival of Mel and Lindsay.

"I'll get it!" Gus shouted as he ran helter-skelter toward the front door.

"Wait, Sonny Boy!" I called out before he could proceed, a sudden, evil idea forming in my mind. If I was going to be miserable for a few days, I might as well get some perverse enjoyment out of it. "Come here for a second."

Gus trudged up to Justin and me as he gazed up at my face curiously. "What, Daddy?"

"Gus, don't tell your moms that I don't feel well, okay?" I implored as I let out another cough. "I'm going to be just fine, and I don't want them to worry about me. Let's just keep it a secret between you, me, and Justin."

Gus always liked to play 'spy,' so it wasn't hard to get him to agree. "Okay, Daddy," he assured me as he turned and rushed down the hallway toward the front door. A few seconds later, I could hear the two moms greeting him enthusiastically.

I noticed Justin eyeing me suspiciously - I never _could_ deceive him fully - but I chose to ignore his unspoken question as I told him, "Let's get this over with," feeling I was losing my momentum by the second. "And don't make a big deal out of this, either, okay?"

Justin nodded, still not convinced that I had some nefarious motive afoot but knowing how much I hated being treated like an invalid or appearing weak in front of our friends. He led the way, walking more slowly than normal in an attempt to let me keep up with him as we walked down the hallway toward the front door.

Lindsay already had Snowball's cage in her hands as she smiled over at me. "Gus was just telling us what a great time he had, Brian," she told me as Mel walked up to stand next to her. She frowned slightly as she studied my somewhat unkempt appearance - I hadn't taken a shower yet, and with my tousled hair and slightly baggy sweatpants, I no doubt looked like a virtual mess at the moment. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I reassured her, even though that was far from the truth. "Always fine," I added, probably more for my own benefit than hers. "Just didn't sleep real well last night," I explained, which was the truth, actually. To my relief, she seemed to accept that explanation as she nodded back in acceptance.

"I hope you didn't let him pig out too much on Easter candy," Mel commented next to her as I sighed. It seemed that no matter how many times Gus came to visit - and was returned to them, safe, sound, and happy - I could never quite come up to her standards. She peered over at me intently with her 'attorney glare' as she commented, "You look kind of green in the gills a little yourself, Brian. Too many jelly beans? Or something else?"

Instead of issuing a biting or snide comment, however, like I normally would, I smiled warmly at her, which definitely threw her off guard, before I walked up and, grasping her by the upper arms, plastered a brief kiss on her lips before letting go of her; it was all I could do not to have bile rise in my throat afterward, but the look of disbelief on her face was worth it. I could hear Mel sputtering against my chest as she pulled roughly away from me and Lindsay exclaimed, "Brian! What in the world?"

I smiled at the look of shock on Mel's face as I shrugged. "I'm just so happy to SEE you, Mel," I told her with a smirk as she rolled her eyes at me in disgust, thinking I had lost my mind. She had an '_ew...dog germs!' _type of look on her face as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and commented dryly, "Yeah...Whatever." She studied me with clear suspicion in her eyes, no doubt the same type of look she normally plastered on a witness she was grilling on the stand as I heard Justin clear his throat from behind me.

As I turned to peer over at him, he gave me a thinly-veiled look that told me he knew exactly what I was doing, and I held my breath, wondering if he was about to rat me out, but to my relief all he said to Mel and Lindsay was, "You know Gus is welcome here anytime. We love having him here. He makes things..._exciting_." There was a pregnant pause before he added for my benefit, "Kind of like his father does."

I grinned. "Why, thank you, Sunshine; I think you're pretty exciting yourself."

Mel shook her head. "Can we save the mutual love fest for later?" she groused. "Let's get going."

"Say goodbye to your Dad and Justin," Lindsay instructed my son; he walked over to Justin as he crouched down to accept his hug, his small arms winding themselves around my partner's neck as he gave him a slobbery kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Justin," I heard him murmur against his face. "I love you."

I felt my throat constrict with emotion as I noticed my sentimental partner's eyes well up with tears as he pulled back to look into Gus's eyes and whisper in a choked up voice, "I love you, too, Buddy. Come back and see us again soon."

He nodded before he walked over to me and I promptly scooped him up into my arms with a grunt. He repeated the same embrace with me as I held him tightly, not really wanting to let him go but knowing that I had to - at least for now. I resolved, however, in the future to broach the idea of him staying with us for the summer, but not now - not when I felt like crap and couldn't offer my most persuasive argument. When I DID bring the subject up, I wanted to be at the top of my game.

"Bye, Sonny Boy," I whispered to him with a tender smile as I hugged him against my neck. "Your old man loves you a lot, you know," I found myself saying. To my surprise, it didn't seem all that awkward, either; it felt _right_.

My son pulled back to gaze into my eyes. "Me, too, Daddy," he told me with a smile before he brought his hand up to my forehead to feel the heated skin beneath his touch. He leaned in to whisper so no one else would hear, "Get better real soon. Drink a lot and stay in bed."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Gus," I whispered back to him with a grin. "Those are two of my favorite pastimes." I smirked over at my partner, who quirked the side of his mouth up in amusement as I reluctantly let go of my son and placed him back down on the floor. "I'll see you next month?"

He nodded with a firm smile, his eyes sparkling in anticipation as he walked over to Mel, who grasped his smaller hand in hers. A few minutes later, the entourage - women, boy, and rabbit -left, leaving an odd quiet in the house as I turned to my partner for the expected grilling. I didn't have long to wait, except it didn't emerge as a question; more like an opinion, actually.

"Brian, that was evil," Justin commented as soon as they left and we turned to head back down the hallway. I didn't resist when my partner slid his arm supportively around my waist as I slumped slightly; now that the charade of being healthy was unnecessary, I did not feel the need to keep up my pretense. What I DID need was some more medicine; any effects from the last batch had long ago faded away to be replaced with a dull ache all over.

As we reached the study and I practically fell onto the sofa with a groan, Justin reached to swing my feet up onto the end so I was reclining fully on it as he grabbed the throw pillow lying nearby on one of our overstuffed chairs to place it under my head. "It was merely my way of expressing my affection for her," I croaked out in a raspy voice as Justin snorted in amusement.

"Since when?" he snarked as I grinned weakly. His expression turned more serious as he felt my head, just like Gus had done a little earlier and he frowned, apparently not liking what he found. "Be right back," he told me as he walked away and returned a few minutes later with a glass of water and some more pills. "Take this."

I drank just enough water to swallow the caplets and gave him the glass back as I told him, "It turns me on when you get bossy." My attempt at sounding sultry, though, was somewhat tarnished as I let go with a less-than-sexy cough again. He leaned down to kiss my dry lips briefly as he pulled back and stood up.

"Where are you going?" I asked as I reached out to snag his wrist and hold him in place.

He smiled at me, one of those engaging smiles he only reserved for me and that made my heart flutter, even in my less-than-stellar state. "You haven't had anything to eat all day; I'm going to fix you something. All that medicine on an empty stomach isn't good for you."

"I don't want any food," I practically whined, not caring at the moment if I sounded needy.

Justin sighed. "Such a baby," he teased me. "Well, what do you want, then?" was the tantalizing question.

Any other time, I would have told him something completely different. But feeling so horrible put a whole new perspective on that. "Just stay," I finally murmured in response as he nodded.

I moved my body just enough so my partner's slim form could fit next to me on the sofa as Justin lay down in front of me on his side and I wrapped my right arm around his waist.

"Shit, Brian," I heard him whisper as he placed his hands over mine. "You are still awfully hot."

I couldn't help snickering as Justin chuckled at his choice of words, knowing what was probably coming. Well, to his response anyway; I figured with the way I was presently feeling, 'coming' would be a distant memory, at least for a few days.

"You know what I meant," he clarified before I had a chance to respond; I grinned, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"I know," I assured him softly as I leaned over to kiss him on the side of his neck, hearing a sigh erupt between his parted lips. I winced and gasped slightly when I swallowed and felt the stabbing pain in my throat flare up again.

"What?" he whispered as he twisted his head to look into my eyes, immediately sensing my discomfort.

I shook my head as if to tell him it was okay as I explained, "My throat feels like there's a knife stuck in it."

"My mom always said you should gargle with warm salt water," my favorite PSA expert told me helpfully. "I should get you something..." he began to say as he struggled to rise.

"I _have_ something," I told him firmly as I tightened my hold on him to hold him in place. _"You."_

"But..."

"Will you please just shut the fuck up, Sunshine?" I groused. "_You're_ the best medicine for me right now."

I couldn't see the blinding smile that was no doubt plastered on his face over my quasi-romantic statement as he nodded and snuggled deeper into my embrace in acquiescence. Eventually after several minutes of us just lying there together, along with the effects of the analgesic beginning to take hold, I was able to drift off into a fairly comfortable slumber.


	7. Epilogue

_Two Weeks Later_

"Justin!"

I let go of my son's hand as he ran helter-skelter toward my partner who was standing in front of the stove, stirring a big pot of mixed vegetables and linguini.

His face glowed with pleasure as he recognized the 'visitor' I had called to advise him about earlier when I had asked if he could set an extra plate for dinner. No doubt Justin had assumed it was a business client; it wasn't unusual for me to bring someone home when I needed to continue my discussion with him or her after working hours, and I often found that Justin normally managed to charm the pants off our guest by the time the evening was over with - at least figuratively speaking, which was an added plus. After one client had blatantly tested the literal meaning several months ago by flirting with him one evening over his shrimp jambalaya, I had promptly laid down the law to the potential new client and to my partner, telling the client to fuck off as I shoved him out the door and telling Justin that NO ONE got into his pants anymore but me. Justin hadn't seemed to mind my caveman antics in the least, however, at the time; in fact, I think the little fucker looked quite smug for the next several days afterward, and he seemed particularly frisky in bed that night, which suited me just fine. I smiled now as he stooped down to pull Gus into a big bear hug.

"Hey, Little Man!" he greeted him with a big smile as he embraced him tightly. "This is a nice surprise! You weren't supposed to be back out here until next weekend," he observed as he pulled back to look at my son, who was wearing a pair of Gucci blue jeans I had bought him a few months ago, along with a long-sleeved, green sweatshirt with a cheetah on it; my son had recently decided he was going to be a zoologist when he grew up, having been to the zoo a few months ago and having fallen in love with it, and was currently on a wild animal kick, from his room décor to his school supplies and his attire. The green cheetah sweatshirt had been a gift from Justin a few weeks ago when he had taken him to the mall to shop and enjoy some of the indoor kiddie rides. It had quickly become one of his favorite things to wear.

"What are you doing here, Gus?" he asked my son as his eyes swept over to meet mine in question.

"Mama's sick," he told him, his eyes expressive as he recounted what was wrong with Melanie. "She's got the measles."

"The measles, huh?" Justin replied with a knowing look as his eyes bored into mine. I rolled my lips under and shrugged nonchalantly as he asked Gus, "Are you sure, Gus?"

Gus nodded. "Yeah, that's what mommy said she had. She said mama has never had the measles before. She feels really bad."

"Is that so?" Justin asked as he stared over at me pointedly.

"Uh, huh. She wondered where she got them from."

I could see Justin biting his lower lip to keep from laughing as he replied, "Well, it IS unusual for an adult to get the measles, but not unheard of." Gus nodded as he added, "I'll have dinner ready in a few minutes; why don't you take your backpack up to your room and wash your hands?"

"Okay," he agreed as he turned around and headed back to me. I handed him his backpack and gave him a playful smack on his ass as he turned to go.

"Daddy!" he giggled at me as I grinned before he scurried down the hallway toward the stairs and took off like a rocket.

"Slowly, Sonny Boy!" I called out to him in caution. "And hold onto the railing!" Satisfied that my son was doing as I requested, I turned my attention back to my partner as I walked up to him. He was standing there with his arms folded across his chest as he eyed me in amusement.

"You look rather smug," he observed as he stared into my eyes with a knowing look. "Melanie must be feeling pretty terrible to let Gus come out here earlier than scheduled."

"Yeah," I replied with a sort of tsk, tsk sound with my tongue as I peered back at him solemnly and shook my head sadly. "It's a real shame."

We stared at each for a few moments longer before we both burst out laughing. I grinned at him impishly as he asked, "Are you ever going to tell her?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe someday; if I'm feeling particularly brave and want to rub it in. But for now, let's just enjoy it, shall we?"

He shook his head with a grin. "You're lucky Gus didn't know what you had, or I'm sure he would have spilled the beans by now."

I nodded. "Probably. He's not very good at keeping secrets, despite his good intentions." I had already been witness to that during Justin's last birthday; my idea to whisk my partner away on a surprise long weekend to Virginia Beach had been promptly quashed when Gus had asked him to bring him back some seashells from 'his trip,' even though I had asked him not to tell. I suppose that was my own fault, though; my son was just too curious and excited about secrets for his own good. So it was probably a miracle that Gus hadn't apparently mentioned that I had been 'sick' during his last visit. I'm sure if he had, I would have heard about it by now. Mel wasn't a good attorney for nothing, I had to grudgingly admit.

"I know," Justin agreed with a smile. "I remember."

I walked over and picked up the large, wooden spoon in the bowl of linguini to blow on it before taking a sample. "Mmmm," I pronounced with a smile of approval, the savory blend of garlic and other spices assailing my taste buds. "Good."

"Thanks," Justin responded, pleased by my critique. "I thought you were bringing home a potential new client, so I fixed one of your favorites."

I nodded, gratified by my partner's thoughtfulness. "Well, Gus loves it, too, so I'm sure dinner will be a big hit. What's for dessert?" I asked him, knowing that would be part of the meal, too; to Justin that was one of the major food groups.

He grinned. "Cheesecake with strawberries," he told me as I nodded.

I grinned back at him in approval and leered openly at him as I asked, "You think we should follow that up with some Hankie Pankie© later?" I felt quite capable of imbibing in some, now that I was good as new - or bad as new, to quote one of my partner's favorite expressions.

Justin laughed as he reached above the stove's cabinet to open it and retrieve the last, remaining box of cookies. Taking out a partially eaten package, he reached in to grab a cookie and bit into it before he smiled at me seductively. "I'm sure that can be arranged."

* * *

_Chapter End Notes:_

Thank you to everyone who read and especially for the comments; your support and kindness are greatly appreciated and very encouraging.


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